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New-home sales down in June

Doug Christman

July 25, 2014 – New-homes sales decreased by 8.1 percent in June, after a significant downward revision in May numbers as well, according to a NAFCU Macro Data Flash.

NAFCU Research Assistant Doug Christman analyzed data from the Census Bureau and found all four regions showed a new-homes sales decrease in June, with the Northeast shrinking the most at -20 percent. Overall, the report showed a decrease from 442,000 annualized units in May to 406,000 annualized units in June, which is an 11.5 percent decrease from a year ago.

“Higher mortgage rates, rising home prices and weak wage growth all attributed to the slower sales pace in June,” Christman wrote. “New-home sales data has been prone to large revisions recently, which makes it somewhat difficult to gauge how the monthly numbers represent current housing market conditions. Improvements in the labor market and loosening credit standards are expected to help the housing market improve throughout the year.”

The median new-home price, non-seasonally adjusted, decreased from $282,600 in May to $273,500 in June – which is up from a median of $259,800 a year before. There were 5.8 months of available inventory in June – up from 5.2 months of supply in May.

Christman also found the number of unsold homes left on the market increased to 197,000 units – up 23.1 percent from the previous year.